The transition to DDR3 will be sped up by the upcoming launch of PCs with DDR3 in the second half of 2009, according to Pei-Lin Pai, spokesperson for DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology.

PC vendors including Acer, Apple, Asustek Computer and Lenovo already include new models with DDR3 on their product roadmaps for the latter half of the year, said Pai, which will help push the DDR3 generation to take place soon.

Pai's optimistic views on the DDR3 market appear to contradict recent industry speculation that Samsung Electronics intends to narrow the price gap between DDR2 and its successor, as the transition to DDR3 is still uncertain.

Pai believes the recent rally in DRAM contract prices is likely to continue throughout the second quarter, when Nanya's shipments for PC applications are likely to start recovering.

Nanya is in the process of migrating to 68nm stack technology for its DDR3 DRAM products, according to the company, and plans to start pilot runs for 2Gb DDR3 products on 50nm in the third quarter. The computer-memory specialist said its migration to 50nm stack, which enables a 50% cost reduction compared to 70nm trench, will be completed by the second half of 2010.

Currently, DDR3 accounts for 20% of the combined production at Nanya and Inotera Memories, according to Pai. The proportion is expected to reach 30% in the second half of 2009.

By: DocMemory
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